AB1115 COVID-19 VACCINE HESITANCY AMONG RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS ON BIOLOGICS
Authors: E. Hannech, S. Boussaid, S. Rekik, S. Jemmali, S. Rahmouni, H. Ajlani, H. Sahli, M. Elleuch
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2022)

Background Vaccine hesitancy is defined by the OMS as ”a delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccination services” [1], and it is considered as one of threats to global health. This hesitancy emerges around Covid-19 vaccination. Patients on biologic Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drug (bDMARD) are vulnerable to Covid-19 infection and their perception to vaccination is unknown. Objectives The aim of our study was to identify Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patient on bDMARD. Methods We conducted a monocentric, cross-sectional study, including patients with RA who met the ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria. All patients were on bDMARD with or without conventional synthetic (Cs) DMARD for at least 3 months. Disease activity was assessed using the Disease Activity Score (DAS) 28 (CRP) and the functional impairment using the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). A structured interview was done using a prepared questionnaire evaluating their vaccine hesitancy behavior. Results We enrolled 60 patients: 10 male (16.7%) and 50 females (83.3%). Their average age was 58.16±9.04 years [34-80]. For the education level; 38.5% of patients were illiterate, 34.6% had primary education, 23.1% had secondary education, and 3.8% have a university degree. Forty-four patients (73.3%) had no occupation, 13 patients (21.7%) were employed, and 5% were retired. The majority of patients lived in urban areas (85%) and 98.2% with their families. The average duration of RA was 15.23±8.92 years [2-39]. The average DAS28 (CRP) and the average HAQ were 4.05±1.22 [1.5-7.2] and 0.7±0.4 [0-2.4], respectively. Fifteen patients (25%) had a high disease activity and seven (11.7%) were in remission. When asking patients about their Covid19 infection and vaccination status; 15% had caught the virus and 61.7% have already received the vaccine. One third (35.6%) believed that they had enough information about vaccination. Their main sources were their family, friends, and the media. More than half of the asked patients (68.3%) reported vaccine hesitancy. Reasons of vaccine hesitancy were divided into three categories: lack of confidence (66.7%, p&lt;0.005) (63.3% fear related to side effects, 10% conspiracy theory, 6.7% lack of confidence in the provider), complacency problem (16.7%, p=0.01) and lack of convenience (8.6%). There was no association between vaccine hesitancy and sociodemographic data. The existence of comorbidities had no influence on vaccine hesitancy (p=0.4). This hesitancy was not associated with DAS28 (CRP) (p=0.6) and with HAQ (p=0.7). Patients with moderate to high disease activity were more likely to deny the usefulness of Covid-19 vaccination (p=0.09). Regarding to the therapeutic data, there was no association between corticotherapy and vaccine hesitancy (p=0.1). There was no influence on the type of the current bDMARD (p=0.3) or of the rate of administration (p=0.4). The route of administration was associated with hesitation (53.65% intravenous vs 46.34% subcutaneous, p=0.04). Conclusion Our study showed that Covid-19 vaccination coverage among RA patients on bDMARDs was not optimal with a high percentage of hesitancy. The reasons are complex and they may be related to a lack of awareness. Rheumatologists should play a key role in the vaccine company. References [1]MacDonald NE, SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy Vaccine hesitancy: definition, scope and determinants. Vaccine. 2015;33(34):4161–4. Disclosure of Interests None declared